Preventing moths in your closet requires eliminating their food sources and making the environment inhospitable. The most effective routine includes hot-washing or dry-cleaning susceptible garments before storage, maintaining deep-clean habits in dark corners, and utilizing professional pheromone moth traps to monitor for early activity.
To repel clothes moths from your closet, use natural deterrents like cedar blocks or lavender sachets for everyday prevention, and pheromone traps to actively monitor or catch them. For severe infestations, traditional chemical options are required.
Moths don't usually chew through solid wood or slip under tight door cracks to get into your closet. Instead, most infestations begin when you unknowingly introduce moth eggs or larvae into your home.
Keep clothes brushed and cleaned, especially items that will be stored for any length of time. Clean fabrics stained with food or perspiration before storing them because these items are attacked by clothes moths most often. Sweep or vacuum regularly to remove woolen lint or hair from floors, shelves, and drawers.
Clove - Clove's spicy, pungent aroma is another strong deterrent for moths. The aroma is too intense for most insects, keeping them away from treated areas. We recommend hanging one of our 'Treat Me' Natural Scent Bags in your wardrobe for an instant moth-repellent.
5 ways to get rid of moths
Moths and their caterpillars are a vital food source for a vast range of wildlife. Key predators include bats, birds (which feed thousands of caterpillars to their chicks), spiders, frogs, lizards, and smaller mammals like shrews and rodents.
Clothes moths lay their eggs primarily during the spring and summer (peaking around March to October). However, thanks to central heating and indoor climates, they can mate and lay eggs year-round in most heated homes.
To kill clothes moths, their eggs, and larvae instantly, you need methods that destroy them on contact, such as extreme heat or cold, or targeted insecticides.
If you do find signs of clothes moth you will need to tackle them straight away. Start by throwing away garments that are beyond repair. If items can be repaired then clean them thoroughly first either by hand with our Laundry Liquid or at the dry cleaners. Vacuum your empty wardrobe, taking care to clean all the dust.
Methods for controlling clothes moths include periodic dry cleaning or laundering, proper storage, freezing, heating, fumigating with dry ice, trapping, or insecticides. Keeping humidity levels low inside buildings creates an environment that isn't favorable for clothes moth development.
Adult clothes moths live for about 15 to 30 days. However, the destructive larval (caterpillar) stage—which actually eats your clothes—can live anywhere from 2 months to 2.5 years depending on temperature and food availability.
It's October! 🎃 Look out for these butterflies and moths in your gardens and local green spaces Many butterflies and moths spend the colder months as caterpillars, but there are still some that you might spot fluttering around amongst the beautiful autumnal landscape.
Let's clear up a common myth: Clothing moth larvae can not chew through plastic bags (think ziplock). It is far more likely the eggs were there before the wool was stored or there was a small opening. A not on moth killing methods. Freezing is only good if you have a commercial freezer that gets super cold (-20F).
Clothes moth larvae eat natural animal fibers containing keratin (a fibrous protein), such as wool, silk, fur, feathers, and hair. They also seek out body oils, sweat, and food stains on clothing and can chew through synthetic fabrics to get to them. Adult clothes moths do not eat at all.
The best overall moth repellent for wardrobes is cedarwood, as it masks the smell of natural fibers and deters insects safely. For active, non-toxic defense, swap traditional, toxic mothballs for natural alternatives like cedar blocks, herbal sachets, or pheromone traps.
Moths naturally dislike the pungent, volatile oils found in many strong-smelling herbs and woods. These scents overwhelm their senses and deter them from laying eggs in your closets or pantries.
The primary source may be a wool scarf or fur/felt hat at the back of a closet, an old rug stored in the basement, or an abandoned bird or squirrel nest up in the attic. Larvae prefer to feed in dark, undisturbed areas where woolens and other susceptible items are stored for long periods.
To get rid of moths when you cannot find the source, set out pheromone traps to catch active adults and locate their breeding grounds. Then, aggressively vacuum hard-to-reach areas, wash vulnerable fabrics, and inspect hidden spots like old wool rugs, pet food containers, and forgotten pantry items.
The first signs of clothes moths are small, irregular holes in natural fabrics (wool, silk, fur) and tiny, white, caterpillar-like larvae or silken cocoons hidden in dark, quiet areas like closets or under furniture. Adult moths, which are small, golden, and avoid flying, may also be seen crawling on clothes or walls.
Freeze Any Items That Show Signs of Moths
Simply place the affected clothing, fabrics, or pantry items in a Ziploc bag and put it inside a deep freezer below 10°F. The cold temperature will kill off any eggs, larvae, or adult moths present, making it a natural solution.
Moths that look like clothes moths are typically tiny (under 1/2 inch), golden or mottled-brown, and avoid light. The most common look-alikes are pantry pests, other species of fungus moths, or harmless outdoor insects drawn to artificial lighting.
You need to do a complete purge of the area they live in: remove all their feeding sources and decontaminate them, then make them inaccessible; and clean everything really well. If you truly have clothing moths a few moth balls really aren't going to cut it (they're more for prevention anyway).
👉 In Matthew 6:19-21, He says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Exterminators widely agree that bed bugs are the hardest pest to get rid of. Their ability to hitchhike, resilience against over-the-counter pesticides, and talent for hiding in microscopic crevices make DIY eradication nearly impossible.